1966 Chevy Nova Front Clip - Full Frontal

Project Getaway Gets Some Steel As Well As Some Wheel

We last left Project Getaway completely stripped of its glory with a partially installed new front subframe and front suspension components courtesy of Chris Alston's Chassisworks in Sacramento, California. Our next mission is to progress from there in hopes that we don't encounter any major issues along the way.

After a brief inspection of the old front clip on this '66 Nova project car, we were reluctant to reuse any components that we didn't have to. The fenders were somewhat rusted on the inside toward the bottom, and though they may have been brought back to life, owner Ed Krawiec decided to find a set of re-bops or better. After perusing eBay Motors, Krawiec located a set of reproductions collecting dust in somebody's garage. After winning the auction for a mere $600, the fenders were on their way to Carroll's Rod and Racecraft in Spotswood, New Jersey, where they would be mated to the deuce.

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Pictured here is the new radiator support as received from Ground Up. Unfortunately, we must remove the support's lower core section according to the subframe installation instructions from Chris Alston's Chassisworks.

Next, we needed to find a suitable replacement for the radiator support, as well as some insight into a custom hood for Getaway. After some research we called upon the professionals at Ground Up in Meriden, Connecticut. It was there that Paul Wolfer introduced us to the radiator support we needed as well as a steel (not fiberglass) 2-inch cowl induction hood. For the past 15 years Ground Up has been a leader in restoration parts and components for Chevelles, El Caminos, Camaros, and-most important for us-Novas.

When building a project of this magnitude, keep in mind that what we've done up to here and what we will do beyond this point is purely mock-up. We are out to rough-fit everything, which requires hours of measurements, multiple trial fitments, and most of all, patience (coupled with a love for what you're doing). Once the entire car is mocked together and satisfaction is achieved by both Krawiec and Bobby Carroll (the builder), then it will need to be completely disassembled for bodywork, painting, powdercoating, and any additional detailing work. Then and only then can Getaway be prepped for final assembly.

You're probably wondering what's going to power this beast. At first we discussed a stout LS-based engine with twin turbos backed by an overdrive tranny. While we know it can be done (anything can be done with a welder and a torch), it would probably require hours of fabrication to effectively route the piping for the turbo system as well as the intercooler. After giving Kory Enger a call at Turn Key Engine Supply in Oceanside, California, we were introduced to one of the many drop-in engine packages it provides. After a little back and forth, we've pretty much settled into a combination containing an LS2 block and Dart 72cc cylinder heads with a Kenne Bell Twin Screw supercharger mounted up top. Early indicators put this mill at 700-plus horsepower, which is no slouch in our opinion.

Follow along as we try to make the disassembled deuce look like a car again.

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1966 Chevy Nova Front Clip - Full Frontal

Pictured here is the new radiator support as received from Ground Up. Unfortunately, we must remove the support's lower core section according to the subframe installation instructions from Chris Alston's Chassisworks.

To remove the core, Bobby first drilled small pilot holes over the spot welds in the core.

Next, he used a special spot-weld cutting bit to remove the core in a cleaner fashion.

With the core removed, the support fit into the frame perfectly (as indicated).

No further modifications were necessary to seat the unit. Bobby installed the three mounting bolts on each side of the frame through the integrated flanges.

Now that the radiator support is bolted in place, we popped the box for the fenders.

As of now we've heard of some issues with the tooling for these fenders; however, these particular units seem OK at this time. Some of you may be asking why we have '67 fenders for a '66 Nova-as we noted last month, once upon a time someone had installed a '67 nose on the '66, so we're going to go with it.

Here Bobby hangs the driver-side fender, securing it with only two fasteners at this time to allow for adjustability as needed. This box is starting to look awesome already.

Not that this picture does it any justice, but the Wilwood rotor we're utilizing is 14 inches in diameter. You may be saying, yeah-so what? It seems kind of weird considering this car came with 14-inch wheels from the factory.

Speaking of the massive 14-inch stoppers, here's a peek at the Superlite SL6R Wilwood six-piston (under 5 pounds) caliper being used up front.

This narrow unit features an increased bridge radius to allow for proper pad alignment and bridge clearance when using 13- to 14-inch rotors. Radial mounting makes for a cleaner installation and provides two planes of adjustment for ultimate alignment possibilities.

Before mounting the caliper, Bobby applied Bostik Never-Seez to the fasteners to ensure headache-free removal when needed.

Once the caliper was mounted, we installed the Wilwood PolyMatrix disc brake pads. These particular units contain Wilwood's "Q" compound, which is ideal for disc brake conversions on street rods and musclecars. These pads offer improved friction over OE replacements as well as low noise and dust levels.

Later on in the day we headed over to Jerry Noonan's Auto Center in Monroe, N.J., to pick up the custom works of art by Intro Wheels. Noonan's was gracious enough to mount the Nitto Invo rubber onto our wheels in a safe/clean manner with its state-of-theart tire machine. The front and rear wheels are Intro's ID Luxury Wheel design #311. All ID wheels are a three-piece, 100 percent billet aluminum design.

Ed chose a 19x8.5- inch wheel for the front and a massive 20x12-inch for the rear. In order to wrap some rubber around the wheels, we called upon Nitto for its new Invo radials, the front being 245/35ZR19s and the rear 345/25ZR20s. Obviously, extensive modifications will be made to fit the tire and wheel combination under the deuce.

With the caliper mounted, it's a snap to install the brake pads. Bobby simply removed the nut, bolt, and spacer-which retains the pads-and slid them into place, then reversed the procedure.

The rotor then spun freely, indicating that proper alignment had been achieved. Once Getaway is completed, we'll perform a series of tests to check the performance of these babies.

As we were about to call it a day, the 2-inch cowl hood from Ground Up came through the door. We laid it on the floor and popped open the box to check for possible shipping damage-none present. While the box was open, we figured we'd throw it on the car and check in on the wow factor. Looked pretty good considering it wasn't properly mounted yet. It's obviously a high-quality part.

Getaway is really starting to come together. Next we'll move to the rear of the car and start measuring up to install the rear clip, as well as the Chris Alston's Chassisworks FAB9 rear housing, Wilwood brakes, and Strange internals.